THE MUSCLE BAKERY

Recipe: Fluffy Pancakes

Its been a while since we shared a recipe with you guys, not because we didn’t want to but we’ve mainly been trying to survive this covid pandemic… I’m sure you can relate.

*FLUFFY PANCAKES TO THE RESCUE*

Ingredients:
80g Gluten-Free Flour (or alternative – not coconut flour)
30g Protein powder of choice (we used Bulkpowders Vanilla flavour)
25g Oat Flour (alternatively, if you can have gluten Ready Brek also works)
2 Tbsp Xylitol
2 Tsp Baking Powder

The above recipe will make your dry pancake mix, an approximate 160g. You will need half of this for the pancake batter.

Batter ingredients:
80g Pancake Mix
5 Egg whites (beaten until stiff peaks form)
1/2 Cup milk of choice (we used unsweetened almond milk)
2 Tbsp Zero syrup
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda (for fluffiness)

Method:
You may not think that the beaten eggs are important but they are, trust me… they will make your pancakes so fluffier. Mix all your ingredients then fold the egg whites in. If your mix is still too runny, add more pancake mix. If too dry, add a little more of your chosen milk.

Heat a non-stick pan with low-cal spray oil on medium heat and once hot enough (be patient enough to wait) pour spoonfuls of batter to make your pancakes, cooking for several minutes per side.

Stack them up, grab your syrup and enjoy…

Hope you enjoyed this recipe! Please tag us if you make it, we love seeing you re-make our creations! 🙂

How to: Quinoa 🍚

If you don’t like quinoa, we can’t be friends.

Quinoa {keen-wa} – is it a seed? Is it a grain? A debate we are not here to discuss because there is a more pressing issue: eating it.

Its my favourite thing to eat at home, so i collated my favourite ways to eat them…get ready to jazz up your plain quinoa.Life changing.

EGG-FRIED QUINOA

Ingredients:
1 Cup Cooked Quinoa
5 Egg Whites
2-3 Tbsp Soy Sauce (Or Tamari if needed gluten-free)
Sprinkle of salt

Method:
1. Heat a pan on medium heat with a bit of spray oil.
2. Once hot, pour the egg whites and salt and cook like you would scrambled egg, moving around until egg is mostly cooked.
3. Add quinoa and soy sauce and mix together, keep moving until egg has fully cooked through.
4. Remove from heat and enjoy.

LENTIL MEATBALLS WITH QUINOA

Follow our Lentil ‘Meat’ Ball recipe and enjoy on a bed of your ready made quinoa.

RICE WRAPS WITH VEGGIES & QUINOA

Ingredients:
2 Rice Wraps*
40g Avocado (Sliced)
50g Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes
50g Spiced Tofu (optional) 1 Tbsp Spicy Brava Sauce
Sprinkle of salt
Large bowl with lukewarm water
*You can find these in the chinese food section in most supermarkets or grocery stores.

Method:
1. Prepare all your ingredients and a large chopping board next to your bowl of lukewarm water
2. Grab a rice wrap and immerse it into the lukewarm water until fully covered for about 3 seconds so that it goes a bit soft but still manageable.
3. Lay carefully onto chopping board and repeat (2.) with second rice wrap. Place second wrap with half of it overlapping the first.
4. Layer ingredients as you please.
5. Roll wrap together carefully, tucking in the edges before wrapping fully.
6. Drizzle with the spicy brava sauce and enjoy!

LENTIL STEW WITH QUINOA

Ingredients:
500g (Cooked) Pardina Lentils
100g Mixed Frozen Peppers
1 Chopped Onion
1 Tbsp Frozen Garlic
Handful Chopped Basil
4 Tbsp Marigold Vegan Stock
6 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
2 Tbsp Italian Herbs
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1.5 Ltr Water (Boiling)
100g Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes
2 Cups Cooked Quinoa
Sprinkle of salt & pepper

Method:
1. We pre-cooked the lentils for this recipe, but you can also use can or jar lentils which come ready made.
2. In a large sauce pan bring olive oil to heat on a medium setting, then add onions and garlic. Once onions have softened slightly, add mixed frozen peppers and keep moving until peppers have softened too.
3. Add all the remaining ingredients, except for the quinoa and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and leave simmering for approx 15mins.
6. Fold in quinoa and leave simmering for another 10mins.
7. Remove from heat and leave to settle, then enjoy or pack it up for the next day.

Note: The lentils will settle even more if you store them for the next day, so dont worry if you think they have perhaps come out too liquid(ey).

This recipe is made to suit my preferred tastes, but you can add/ swap ingredients and flavours as you see fit.

Hope you enjoyed these recipes! Please tag us if you make them, we love seeing you re-make our creations 🙂

Recipes created by @themusclebaker

BrunchIt: Marbella 🥞

Brunch It Cafe (New Marbella location).

Location: Calle Francisco Nte, 5 29602 – Marbella, Malaga📍

After my first BrunchIt experience in Malaga, i fell in love with the place.

Its decor, food, branding and ethos stood out from the rest and after having reviewed their first location, Lydia the owner (who is absolutely adorable may i add) invited me to try out their new Marbella branch.

The decor is a little different to the original blacks and whites from my first BrunchIt visit back in Malaga. Instead, you are greeted with wooden and yellow tones with a fresh and modern feel.

Meat-Free Monday: Spiralised Veggie Salad w/ Peanut Sauce 🥜

In contrast to most of the foodie population, courgette is something I had not taken a liking to. Not sure why? As a previous fussy eater, some bad habits still lingered and this inoffensive vegetable had become judged. Lo siento.

But, after buying a handheld spiraliser I decided to let go of my courgette fears and get creative. This salad was born and I became OBSESSED with it, ate one everyday! The spiralised veg provided a lot of volume, so aside from it being tasty, filling and healthy, it was cost effective too!

Naturally, I needed to share the recipe with you:

SPIRALISED VEGGIE SALAD W/ PEANUT SAUCE

Ingredients:
1 Carrot
1 Courgette
1 Cup Edamame Beans
1/2 (Chopped) Spring Onion
2 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Seeds

Peanut Sauce:
2 Tbsp Tamari or Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Rice or Cider Vinegar
1/2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Tbsp Agave or Honey
2 (Heaped) Tbsp Peanut Butter (approx 40g)
(I used Pip & Nut because its super runny and perfect for this).

Note: You will also need a spiraliser.

Method:
1. Cut off the ends of the carrot + courgette and spiralise into a large bowl.

2. Toss edamame beans, spring onions and 1 tbsp of toasted sesame into bowl and roughly mix with spiralised veg. Set aside.

3. In a bowl, add all peanut sauce ingredients and slowly whisk together until combined.

4. Pour over salad base and toss with the remaining tbsp of toasted sesame seeds.

(Scroll down for nutritional info)

Nutritional Info:
377 Cals | 24.8F | 22.3C | 17.4F (per serving of 2)

DON’T FANCY A SALAD? THIS PEANUT SAUCE IS A DREAM TO MAKE A TOFU OR CHICKEN SATAY, OR MAYBE JUST GIVE RICE OR NOODLE DISHES SOME FLAVOUR WITH ITS PEANUT BUTTERY GOODNESS.

Look forward to seeing you guys make it! Don’t forget to tag us, we love to see.
Find us on all social outlets @themusclebakery/ @themusclebaker 🙂

HAPPY COOKING (OR SPIRALISING?) 😛

Happy Birthday Bulkpowders! 🎈

Bulkpowders is celebrating their 12th birthday this week and I can’t help but reminisce on my own Bulkpowders journey, thinking of all the recipe creations that I have developed and feeling happy to have worked with such a great company for 5 years now.

So, in honour of such a great day… here are some of my favourite #BULKBAKES:

BIRTHDAY CAKE MINI DOUGHNUTS

Everything is better when it comes in mini and when it has sprinkles on it.

VANILLA FROSTED CUPCAKES

The lightest vanilla cupcakes, perfect to indulge without the guilt.

BUNDT CAKE

A known fact is that Bundt cake has less calories than normal cake.

APPLE PIES

A perfect protein apple pie recipe, that can be made vegan too.

PANCAKE CAKE

Sometimes, pancakes just isn’t enough you know.

STUFFED PROTEIN COOKIE

What is better than a cookie? A stuffed choc hazelnut spread one.

GLUTEN-FREE JAFFAS

Make your very own tasty Jaffa Cakes with this recipe.

CANDY CANE PROTEIN BARS

Chocolate and mint are a perfect pairing, + crunchy candy cane and you have a winner.

PROTEIN ‘KIT KAT’

Like a Kit Kat, except the Bulkpowders version

DOUBLE CHOC PB COOKIES

Double choc cookies, made with a secret ingredient… click to find out.

CHOC PB PROTEIN CHEESECAKE

If you’re on a low-carb diet and craving dessert… this is the recipe for you.

PB BANANA MUFFINS

The simplest banana and peanut butter muffin you’re ever gonna make.

SOME SAVOURY RECIPES TOO:

SPINACH & SWEET POTATO FRITTATA

Sweet potato and spinach, a great combo make. partner it with some egg whites and you have a delish frittata.

LENTIL & QUINOA PATTIES

High protein, meat-less patties which are great to prep in bulk.

LOADED VEGAN BURGERS

A burger of epic proportions, a must-try!

SPINACH WRAPS

A great low-carb alternative to wraps using liquid egg whites.

SATAY DIP

A quick and easy satay dip using Bulkpowders natural peanut butter.

and last but not least…

BIRTHDAY DRIP CAKE

Maybe I went a little crazy on this one, but birthdays only come round once a year so I had to make it extra special for my BULKPOWDERS buddies.

Whats more BULKPOWDERS are currently running a Great Bulk Bake Off competition, giving you a chance to win £300 BULKPOWDERS bundle! All you have to do is whisk up a birthday treat using at least one of their products and use the hashtag #BULKBAKES in your post.

READY, STEADY, BAKE!

Is Veganism a fad? 🤔

It’s 01:32, my apple update is taking forever and I have to stay awake until it’s done so I’m sat here watching insta stories and one in particular caught my attention: a blogpost called ‘is veganism the new clean eating’.

It peaked my interest so I clicked to read it and enjoyed seeing an opinion from the flipside.

What I definitely agree with is that there is a collective of people who are jumping on the bandwagon for all the wrong reasons, especially with the rise of the celebrity vegan influencers, paid to promote certain products and/ or weight-loss via veganism.

If you are turning vegan to lose weight, please just STOP.

This is where toxic relationships with food begin. Its 2018 now, please let’s leave that behind.

I’ve said it before and will say it again, the only reason you’ll lose weight on turning vegan is because YOURE EATING LESS than you were before. The science is that simple.

Yeah, you’re feeling wonderful but isn’t that normal? You’re probably eating 10x better than you were before because you’re forcing yourself to eat more fruits, vegetables, pulses and grains.

Now, having said that, I don’t think it is a fad and my personal belief is that it’s actually a culture shift.

I remember when I started my blog (about 6 years ago now) protein bars weren’t even a thing. No one would buy them, except the hardcore gym junkies, and they tasted like sawdust, yet now… they are a mainstream item, found in every supermarket, corner store and even vending machines with a majority choosing them as snacks over the usual.

What we once thought was a ‘fad’, we now deem normal.

People who choose to eat Vegan aren’t all following the same diet, they are just choosing to be vegan because they feel that they can make a change in the world.

You can still eat Keto, Paleo, Low-Carb, High-Carb, Low-Fat, IIFYM and even ‘clean eat’ within the Vegan diet. You can also be a vegan and eat chips all the time so the range is vast ya know. It’s mostly about changing/ evolving for the better, to create less harm on animals and on the planet.

In the same way that people who feel they can’t be vegan, are turning to a veggie diet or changing some meals a day/ week. That’s cool too!

They ain’t changing their diets completely, or changing their daily calorie allowance, or not eating low-carb or keto, or whatever other diet they may prefer… They are just trying to make a teeny bit of difference, and that’s something wonderful.

A collective of humans who feel they can change the world.

SIGN ME UP.

(Although if you do love a heated discussion, just bring up Veganism)

Honestly though, do whatever works best for your health, body and mind and do it because YOU want to. Be inspired by others but don’t feel obliged, just do you. Every. Damn. Day.

**11 minutes of update left**

s/out to Hannah Lewin for the article and to Fit as Fudge who shared it 🤗

Photo screenshot taken from: #veganfoodie

For anyone interested in starting Veganuary, check my WEEK UNO and WEEK DEUX posts from last year, our TOP TIPS TO TACKLE VEGANUARY, or our range of VEGAN RECIPES.

Hope you enjoyed this blogpost! Do you agree/ disagree? What are your thoughts? Tweet or DM us.

Much love,

the muscle baker <3

World Vegan Day 🌼

Today is World Vegan Day, an annual event celebrated by Vegans all over the world. The event was established in 1994 by Louise Wallis, then Chair of The Vegan Society in the United Kingdom, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the organisation and the coining of the terms “vegan” and “veganism”.

In the beginning, The Muscle Bakery wasn’t a reaction to any culinary changes but more of a personal development in the way I saw food. However, as my clientele developed and my skills improved, the demand began evolving and I was catering to the needs of my customers as well as developing my own cooking/ baking style.

The request for Vegan food has grown incredibly over the past few years, and even more so in the last year. When I began, my Vegan customers were a very select amount. But now it seems to be the other way around which is actually surreal to see; the way our culinary culture has changed.

With the growth of knowledge, we are all becoming more conscious of the world around us and it’s up to us to change that. So in contrast to when we began, we have developed with these changes, becoming an exclusively veggie friendly bakery.

We have also completely removed plastic bags and looking into veggie friendly packaging and labels.

We also offer a discount to all customers when they return their plastic containers or bring their own bags.

Everyone’s little efforts, make a big difference.

DID YOU KNOW:

A person showering for 2 months uses up the same amount of water that it takes to produce enough livestock for one beef burger.

Broccoli has a higher protein content per calorie than beef.

Every minute, 7 million pounds of excrement are produced by animals raised for food in the US.

Plastic is the only existing material that CANNOT break down naturally.

There is officially so much plastic in the world that any fish we eat, by default also contains plastic.

If every human skipped just ONE meal of chicken per week, environmental effects would be like removing 500,000 cars off the road.

82% of starving children live in countries where food is grown to feed animals in the west.

Brad Pitt, Beyoncé, Ellen Degeneres, Liam Hemsworth, Alicia Silverstone, Jennifer Lopez, Pamela Anderson, Alec Baldwin and Bill Clinton are vegans.

To celebrate this day, we have put together a collection of our best Vegan recipes to inspire you guys; to show that eating Vegan (& veggie) is also super fun and tasty (and not just about eating leaves and carrot sticks).

VANILLA WAFFLES

Say yes to waffles with this tasty vanilla flavour waffle, topped with soy yoghurt, cookies, fresh berries and zero syrup.

BLUEBERRY SLICES

Imagine if you married up a cookie, a scone and a cake… this is what our Blueberry Slices are like.

COFFEE COCONUT TRUFFLES

Coffee and coconut? imma go and say yes my friends. Soft truffle centre made w/ coconut flour, infused with instant coffee and coated in luxurious dark chocolate.

CHOC BROWNIES

Fudgey brownies to brighten the day. Using Soy yogurt as a secret ingredient, a recipe to make over and over again.

CHEESY NACHOS

Cheesy nachos without the cheese? C’est pas posible. Thanks to the use of nutritional yeast, make any tortilla your b**tch and make them into badass nachos.

FLAPJACKS

Flapjacks are usually laden with butter, not these tho. With added peanut butter… theres nothing to not love!

GOJI HOB NOBS

Hob Nobs minus the gluten and the buttah + added health from the goji berries. Give them a whirl.

PROTEIN PANCAKES

These pancakes are so tasty, it fooled all our non-vegan friends.

BBQ TOFU

The easiest way to make tasty tofu, using bbq sauce and not much else! Pair it up in a salad or a spud for maximum taste bud party.

TOFU NUGGETS

Chicken nuggets is so last year, try these tofu nuggets instead.

VEGAN BANANA BREAD

Would you believe us if we said a can of pop can replace an egg? This recipe shows you how.

BASIC VEGAN PANCAKES

The simplest and tastiest pancakes you’re ever gonna make! A firm favourite amongst our followers.

We hope these recipes inspire you and remember: even if you swap ONE meal a day to a Vegan meal… you ARE making a difference.

Join us with your feedback #WorldVeganDay \ @themusclebakery \ @themusclebaker

For 20% off Bulkpowders use code: MUSCLEBAKERY20
For 5% off iHerb use code: JCB887

HAPPY VEGAN DAY 🌱

Treat or Treat? 👻

We made a post last year about Halloween, so this year we are gonna skip all that mumbo jumbo and head straight to the treats… no tricks. Its the best part of this holiday anyway, right?

Showcasing our favourite Halloween-ey treats that we’ve rustled up to date:

SPIDERWEB SMOOTHIE BOWL

Get in the Halloween mood with this easy to make smoothie bowl, decorated with yoghurt spiderweb!

FRANKENSTEIN PROTEIN POPS

These Frankenstein Pops are a firm favourite with the kiddos! Laced with peanut butter, decorated with chocolate and coloured in green… fun to make… and EAT!

VEGAN WITCH FINGERS

These Witch Fingers are made with all the healthiest ingredients, but full of all the scare!

FRANKENWEENY CUPCAKES

Try these Frankenweeny cupcakes…The cutest Halloween cupcakes you ever did see.

PROTEIN WORMS

Snack on these protein worms today. Lucky for you they are choc orange flavour!

WORMY MATCHA CAKE

Dont be spooked out by this Matcha cake, what you see ain’t really worms… but walnuts!

HOPE YOU ENJOYED OUR HALLOWEEN THEME RECIPES!

Don’t forget to tag us if you try any of these recipes, you can find us on all social media outlets @themusclebakery/ @themusclebaker

For 20% off Bulkpowders use code: MUSCLEBAKERY20
For 5% off iHerb use code: JCB887

HAPPY (HALLOWEENY) BAKING!

How to: Overnight Oats 🍨

Overnight oats became all the rage about 5 years ago, when all the health gurus were touting its awesomeness, flooding the blogosphere with grams of overflowing oat jar creations.

But, they weren’t wrong about the awesome part. There is a huge benefit in eating overnight oats (aside from the time-saving). As the oats soak overnight, their starches break down which improves digestibility. The soaking acts like a long cooking, which you won’t get from just heating them in the microwave or in a saucepan. (You’ll find that most people who suffer from digestive problems, find overnight oats much easier to stomach for this reason).

So, we are re-visiting this old craze because it’s a gem that needs to be revived!

(Not to mention all the crazy combos you can make with it!)

Here is our how to:

CHOOSE YOUR LAYERS
You are going to need a milk, a ground seed like flax or chia (or both), 30-40g oats, a filling like nut butter or jam, and fruit of choice. Extras include protein powder, yoghurt, syrups, nuts, seeds, chocolate chips (whatever you may fancy).

UPCYCLE YOUR OLD JARS
Save used jars for these overnight oats, not only do they look cool in a jar but you’re helping the environment too.

I love making them in almost over peanut butter jars as it soaks in all the hard to get to peanut butter that always gets left behind (or thrown away).

MIX IT UP
Add milk and ground seeds to your jar and mix, follow it with oats, peanut butter, jam, fruit, seeds and whatever else you may or may not wanna add. Give it a good swirl so that the oats are all soaking in the milk, helping give it a swirly pattern too!

LET IT SOAK
Leave in the fridge to soak overnight and bam. Ready to eat oats!

PEANUT BUTTER CHERRY OVERNIGHT OATS 🍒

Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Coconut Milk made w/ a tiny bit of protein powder to thicken up. Use whichever one suits your diet best.
1 Tsp Chia Seeds
1 Tsp Flaxseed Meal
25g Pip And Nut Maple Peanut Butter
1 (generous 🙄) squeeze of Bulkpowders Zero Maple Syrup
Handful of Waitrose frozen cherries
1 Savia Soy Yoghurt
1 Pack Quaker Oats GF Oats (30-40g Oats)

Method:
1. Pour milk, chia, flax and oats in your jar and roughly mix.
2. Add peanut butter, cherries and yoghurt + whatever else you want in there and again mix roughly.
3. Close your jar and leave overnight.
4. Enjoy the next day with a hot cuppa!

The beauty of this recipe is that you can make as many different creations as you like, so long as you follow the basic how to.

Look forward to seeing what combos you guys come up with! Don’t forget to tag us if you make them, we love to see. Find us on all social outlets @themusclebakery/ @themusclebaker 🙂

Fancy some creamy oats? Check out our How to: Make Creamy Oats

For 20% discount on Bulkpowders use code: MUSCLEBAKERY20 | 10% discount on iHerb using code: JCB887

All recipes created by The Muscle Bakery and subject to copyright.

GUEST POST // Eating Vegan in Amsterdam

Eating Vegan in Amsterdam, By Darian Galloway.

Amsterdam… what a beautiful city. Clean, amazing food, endless shopping and sightseeing a plenty! We follow Darian as she shows us what are the tastiest Vegan spots in Amsterdam!

VEGABOND

On my first day of arriving in Amsterdam, I visited a small cafe/shop called Vegabond, if you love quirky little cafes, then you will not want to leave this place. The first thing I noticed was the vintage decor, relaxed atmosphere and welcoming staff. They have a variety of vegan meals, snacks and desserts and they even have a shop inside where you can buy lots of goodies including: vegan foods, sweets, snacks, chocolate, gifts, cookery books, natural beauty products and vegan protein powders. I visited this cafe 3 times out of the 4 days I was staying in Amsterdam; I couldn’t get enough of the vegan treats!

If you are looking for a light lunch, with amazing desserts, I would definitely pop into Vegabond. Out of the 3 times I visited Vegabond, I ate a selection of different tasty foods including: Spelt sandwich made up of spelt bread with handmade cashew ‘ricotta’, pesto, cherry tomatoes and rucola, Fresh wrap with home-made hummus, sun-dried tomato, spinach and cucumber.

And (the best part) the dessert selection they had to choose from! I consumed many a doughnut, in strawberry, chocolate, oreo and caramelised apple flavours. Not to mention the amazing cake variety they had to choose from too; I tried Raw Snickers and Gluten-free brownie with hazelnuts… honestly I could not possibly pick my favourite as I loved them all.

MOAZ

Another place was Moaz, which had the best falafel pitta EVER! After spending a full day shopping and sightseeing, I definitely worked up an appetite… walking down the high streets I stumbled across this little vegetarian food shop on a street corner. It was booming with people enjoying the food and a lively busy crowd is always a good sign when deciding where to eat. So, I stepped inside, joined the queue and opted for the falafel pitta bread. (You could choose between the regular size or the small… of course I chose the regular… the bigger the better.)

You had the option of white or brown pitta, they filled it with falafel and hummus and then the control was in your hands, they handed you the pitta, where you could fill it with all sorts of sides such as: vegetables, salads, sauces, cous cous, and olives… oh and the best grilled peppers ever!

Of course my pitta bread was jam packed, if I am given the control to fill my plate, then the food has got to be over flowing. The service was quick, the staff were friendly, all customers were happy and I was definitely full. Honestly, this was one of the best falafels I have ever tasted.

I was really satisfied with the amount of food I had, but you had the option of adding a side of chips too. There were other options on the menu where you could choose from falafel salads, meal deals and smaller portion options for snacks or young children.

You could also choose from freshly squeezed juices, coffee or water. The prices were fair and you received a lot of food for the money paid.

ALBERT HEINZ

As we was staying in an Air BnB, we had our own little kitchen with cooking facilities and utensils. So in between meals or for breakfast before stepping out into the city again, I relied on snacks from the local supermarkets/shops and Albert Heinz was one of our favourites. As a vegan, finding a good selection of suitable food is hard but this is a great supermarket which has a huge selection of fresh food, meals, fresh juices, snacks, cereals and frozen goods. The prices were reasonable, staff were very friendly and helpful and not to mention…their falafel wraps were amazing, I consumed one every single day I stayed in Amsterdam.

SLA

On my last day staying in Haarlem, we had to leave our BNB at 12:00pm and the flight was not due until late afternoon. We decided to venture around Haarlem, visit the shops and locate some tasty vegan food. SLA caught my eye and was open on a Monday… I noticed on Monday’s quite a few food places are actually shut in, so be careful when planning your days out in Amsterdam.

There is a great selection of different foods on the menu, raw fresh vegan foods and there are non-vegan options too. I chose the white bean falafel bowl. My boyfriend chose their Moroccan Chickpea Soup, which they serve cold with freshly made delicious oat bread… do not knock cold soup until you try it, honestly it is so refreshing.

The food was fresh, tasty, wholesome and nutritious… I felt amazing after eating it. I finished the meal with a dessert (obviously). Dessert > Starter any day! I chose the raw cacao chia cake which really inspired me to create my own selection of raw desserts. Although the cake was small, it is definitely deceiving as it was so rich, you would not need a larger portion and that is coming from Miss Greedy Piggy over here.

VEGAN ICE-CREAM

I finished the trip with one last sweet treat… Near the airport there was a vegan ice cream van, they had a great selection of ice creams which included cookie dough, granola jam, honeycomb, chocolate mint, turmeric and chocolate. They served it in a tub or in a vegan ice cream cone and there were many toppings for the ice cream. You wouldn’t have ever guessed this ice cream was dairy free and it made me want to buy an ice cream maker and make a life-time supply of dairy free ice cream… serious heaven.

So to summarise, after consuming lots of amazing food in Amsterdam, I would definitely visit again and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves food, shopping, sightseeing and plenty of walking/bike rides to visit as soon as possible!

Muscle Bakery tip: Want to keep on a lower cal diet but still eat delicious food in Amsterdam? Stick to loads of leafy greens and veggies! Don’t miss out on dessert either, just skip on the bread and extras, have cake instead! Plus, Amsterdam is filled with lots of walking and cycling so you will no doubt burn it all off anyway 🙂

I am a 22 year old vegan foodie with a keen interest in baking (and maybe eating and force-feeding my treats to everyone)… sharing is caring! Instead of permanently driving those around me insane with my loved topic of conversation, I decided to create a blog to showcase all my recipes, food reviews and vegan lifestyle tips.

Ive always had an interest in fitness and healthy eating, starting my foodie mission by searching the net for healthy recipe ideas. Initially, with simple bakes such as flapjacks, overnight oats, etc. But, once i adopted a vegan lifestyle, my interest peaked and changed my little world around! I began tailoring my baking around the new diet and was enjoying every minute. I still bake to cater all needs, interests and adapt the recipes where necessary, but my true passion lies within the Vegan lifestyle.

I create all kinds of plant-based meals, snacks and treats and no longer feel guilty for eating my body weight in cookies, cakes and all kinds of goodies! I always consciously try to use the healthiest ingredients which means no guilt, right?

My recipes are simple, easy to follow and fun to make as possible, so get in the kitchen bake someone happy and always leave room for dessert…

Blogpost created by Darian Galloway, the lady behind Darian Kay Bakes. if you have not checked her out… what are you waiting for?! You can find her on Instagram too!

We hope you enjoyed this post, get involved… tweet/ gram us @themusclebakery & @dkayxx and tell us your thoughts! And if you have any more recommendations, give us a shout 🙂

Photography by @illuminatus_photography.